I teach Physics at Parkland High School to various levels of students including Applied, CP, Honors, and AP. I use Moodle in conjunction with my personal website through myteacherpages.com, and our department wiki page.
Classroom Website
I use my personal site to post daily lesson plans, announcements, and pertinent links to online resources. This site is accessible by students and parents alike, and is not password protected (although it CAN be if desired). It is great for general information and easy to update and maintain. Feel free to browse through it for ideas and comparisons.
Moodle
My Moodle portal is password protected and synced to the students' technology accounts through the school. I use it for a variety of applications that are centered around enabling students to continue learning in the event of absences and to submit assignments and coursework electronically. There are many uses for the Moodle portaI, and some lend themselves to particular content areas better than others. I will highlight a few ways I use Moodle in my physics classes, and I will include some links to instructional videos I created that explain how to set up these features.
My most frequent uses of Moodle features
Uploading Files: I include Word documents that I distribute such as worksheets or supplementary material distributed in class that students can download from home during an absence or travel. I use Powerpoint to play review games with the students and can post these files enabling them to play the review game from home. I also will include "pdf" files of scans of solutions so that students can get feedback on assigned practice problems. Click here for a brief tutorial on how to post files to the Moodle page.
Quizzes: Moodle has the capability to upload tests or quizzes created in TestGenerator. These can be adminstered to the students in a variety of ways. The portal can be set to automatically grade these assessments and provide both teacher and student instantaneous feedback. I typically use these quizzes as a take home version for the students intended to prepare students for a major test, or as a paperless in-class assessment. Click here for a brief tutorial on how to set up quizzes on Moodle.
Assignment Submission: When students are given an electronic assignment, they can upload their assignment directly to the Moodle page from anywhere with internet access. With the click of a button, the teacher can load and begin to assess the students' work. The Moodle then provides a speedy and private way for the teacher to post a grade and provide feedback to the students. Teachers can set dates and time limits for assignment submission. The portal also logs the activity of any student who accesses the site. Click here for a brief tutorial on how to set up an assignment on Moodle.
Contacting Students: Sometimes the necessity arises to get a message out to students in a timely fashion. The students' email accounts through the school are also synced to the Moodle portal. It is easy to send a message to an entire class, a select group, or an individual student through Moodle. I've personally used this to send out reminders to students about particular deadlines and to make announcements. The Moodle allows for an active means of communication, whereas my classroom website does not. Click here for a brief tutorial on how to send emails through Moodle.
Discussion Forums: This feature can be used to set up a link for students to communicate with one another regarding the course. If a student is having difficulty with a particular problem or assignment, they can post a question to the forum, and a classmate can provide assistance. Teachers may need to provide some incentive for students to encourage participation in the forums to get discussions started. Click here for a brief tutorial on how to set up a discussion forum for your students.
Sample Assignments
I have created assignments for students to complete that are completely paperless. I set these up to include open-ended responses to minimize copying. Listed below are some activities that I have used when away from the classroom at a conference, or as supplements for missed student work. I also used these as a way to differentiate instruction, infuse technology, and appeal to diverse learning styles. Anyone is welcome to download or modify these files for their own use.
As a Physics department, my colleagues and I collaborated to create online makeup labs that students can complete in the event of an absence. Sometimes it may not be feasible to have the student physically make up the lab. To view the makeup labs we created, please check out our department wiki page. Completing these virtual labs (which include simulations of the experiments that were completed in class) can be the next best thing to actually performing the experiments in real life. As a department, we share this page, which also includes other resources that are common to our department.
I hope this was informative and useful for you. Please feel free to browse the links I have included. Here is a link to our physics department home page for Parkland High School. If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to email me. Thank you!
Mr. Sean Flueso fluesos@parklandsd.org
Physics Teacher
Parkland High School
Allentown, PA
High School Physics
I teach Physics at Parkland High School to various levels of students including Applied, CP, Honors, and AP. I use Moodle in conjunction with my personal website through myteacherpages.com, and our department wiki page.
Classroom Website
I use my personal site to post daily lesson plans, announcements, and pertinent links to online resources. This site is accessible by students and parents alike, and is not password protected (although it CAN be if desired). It is great for general information and easy to update and maintain. Feel free to browse through it for ideas and comparisons.Moodle
My Moodle portal is password protected and synced to the students' technology accounts through the school. I use it for a variety of applications that are centered around enabling students to continue learning in the event of absences and to submit assignments and coursework electronically. There are many uses for the Moodle portaI, and some lend themselves to particular content areas better than others. I will highlight a few ways I use Moodle in my physics classes, and I will include some links to instructional videos I created that explain how to set up these features.My most frequent uses of Moodle features
Click here for a brief tutorial on how to post files to the Moodle page.
Click here for a brief tutorial on how to set up quizzes on Moodle.
Click here for a brief tutorial on how to set up an assignment on Moodle.
Click here for a brief tutorial on how to send emails through Moodle.
Click here for a brief tutorial on how to set up a discussion forum for your students.
Sample Assignments
I have created assignments for students to complete that are completely paperless. I set these up to include open-ended responses to minimize copying. Listed below are some activities that I have used when away from the classroom at a conference, or as supplements for missed student work. I also used these as a way to differentiate instruction, infuse technology, and appeal to diverse learning styles. Anyone is welcome to download or modify these files for their own use.Physics in Everyday Life Search (Applied Level)
Simple Machines WebQuest (Applied Level)
Projectile WebQuest (CP Level)
Refraction of Light Simulation (CP/Honors Level)
Work and Energy Online Videos Assignment (CP Level)
Rotation Video Assignment (Honors/AP Level)
Rotational Kinematics Practice (Honors/AP Level)
Makeup work through Wikispaces
As a Physics department, my colleagues and I collaborated to create online makeup labs that students can complete in the event of an absence. Sometimes it may not be feasible to have the student physically make up the lab. To view the makeup labs we created, please check out our department wiki page. Completing these virtual labs (which include simulations of the experiments that were completed in class) can be the next best thing to actually performing the experiments in real life. As a department, we share this page, which also includes other resources that are common to our department.I hope this was informative and useful for you. Please feel free to browse the links I have included. Here is a link to our physics department home page for Parkland High School. If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to email me. Thank you!
Mr. Sean Flueso
fluesos@parklandsd.org
Physics Teacher
Parkland High School
Allentown, PA